The alert, which has been extended into Friday morning, will remain in place until 10am tomorrow morning - meaning people should continue to expect extensive disruption to travel and difficult road conditions.

The Met Office warned the public to continue to avoid any unnecessary travel and added that those who do could face long delays and cancellations on bus, rail and air travel.

A further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) was held this morning, to ensure preparations and appropriate measures are in place. The meeting was chaired by Deputy First Minister John Swinney and attended by the First Minister and the Transport Minister.

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Mr Swinney said: “Conditions continue to be treacherous across much of Scotland, which has led to the decision by the Met Office to extend the Amber warning for snow overnight and through the Friday morning rush hour, signalling the potentially life-threatening nature of the extreme weather.

“Throughout today and into tomorrow morning, the clear and unequivocal advice for people in affected areas is not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

“Clearly there are pressures on our emergency services and we thank those individuals for going above and beyond in difficult conditions. Work is also underway, as a matter of urgency, to ensure essential staff in our hospitals can get to work.

“I would encourage employers to continue to show flexibility for their staff, because safety is paramount. I would urge people to continue to look out for the vulnerable in their communities during these difficult conditions.”